


A Lesson In Proper Pailing Research

by xaviul



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Bulges and Nooks, Masturbation, Other, Porn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 11:19:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17243303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xaviul/pseuds/xaviul
Summary: It’s not that you’re completely unaware of pailing videos, really. You’d been eight sweeps old when you had been herded in to one of the media blocks in the academy with the rest of the recruits your age to watch the Imperial schoolfeeds on the subject, the same sort of thing that all young trolls were imperially mandated to watch. But those had been formal affairs, clinical in their approach to the changes that maturity brought to trolls and what would be expected of all of you when the time came for you to submit your pails to the drones. You’d been embarrassed then, sitting with all the other mortified wrigglers and hoping that above all else, you wouldn’t have a test on what you had just watched after it was done.This was something else. The video starts as tame as you think such a video can, the first actor fighting with his co-star. It’s clearly staged of course, nowhere as brutal as a fight between two members of royalty can get. The focus isn’t on brutality, it’s on the two trolls as they touch, fingers digging into flesh as one gets pinned before they fight their way out.This is just pure, unapologetic smut brought on by reading too much fanfic. Sometimes you just need to get it out.





	A Lesson In Proper Pailing Research

The hive was completely quiet, this close to dawn. The lusii were all settled across the hive, early enough that none of them should be rousing any time soon and devoid of any other signs of life. Bonnie was still playing clean-up and Iconic was still playing support, helpless as any troll to the whims of a Tyrian. Even a Tyrian they knew, one in disguise.

The knowledge you were alone should have been enough to ease the knot in your acid sac as you sat at your desk, but whatever relief you found was lacking. Even as you tried to assure yourself there was nothing odd about what you were doing, nothing shameful, some voice of doubt seemed to catch at the corners of your mind every time you gave it a moment of notice.

It’s not enough to stop you from opening up your husktop though, eyes slanted against the sudden light in your block as it powers up.

Iconic had issues with your lack of experience. Oh, your kismesis might not come right out and admit there’s a problem with the imbalance in your sexual partners in comparison to him, but it shows. The way he changes the subject every time your past drone hookups comes up is proof enough even without having to deal with the way he can’t seem to bridge the fact that you’re more than willing to pail with him. It seems like for every step forward you take, one of you takes a step back.

You could go out and find partners, sure. Your flush quadrant was open and if you knew anything, it was that there would always be trolls out there in the world willing to pail for nothing more than the excitement of it. Maybe it would have even been good for you, to have it to try and chase away the lingering flush feelings you had for one of your closest friends- it seems like the sort of advice Iconic would give. And that alone is enough to make you want to avoid it.

But you needed to learn something, somehow. And that’s what led you to opening your personal husktop for the first time in perigees, fingers steady on the keys as you bring yourself to the Troogle search bar and type in a single word: porn.

The best way to learn was by doing something. But sometimes, watching something be done could be rewarding as well. Most trolls would probably side-eye you, thinking about watching strange troll pail like it’s a battle strategy, but it’s what you know best. You had your challenge, now all you had to do was overcome it- and for that, you needed knowledge.

And the internet was full of it. You click on the first link before you can get lost in the millions of results, before you can rethink your decision. Pornglub, the top free site authorized by the Empire itself, and here you were venturing in to it.

The site loaded and hit you like a blow to the gut, links to videos on full display of what was waiting inside. It was a spectrum of greys, bare bodies or mostly bare, a full variety of bloodcolors on display. Quite on display, some odd voice in your head chimed in as you looked across a variety of bulges and nooks. It was a lot to take in, really.

If you clicked away from the site and closed your laptop now, no one would be the wiser. But you’d know, and you’d feel like the sort of sensitive, inexperienced troll that Iconic kept pulling himself away from. So you pulled the cursor up until you could click on the link to Categories, thinking to yourself that it might not be so overwhelming with a list. Something you could decide on, have an idea on what videos were to come before you threw yourself straight in to the waters.

There were images here as well, meant to lure trolls in to clicking on them. Lowbloods, Highbloods, Big Horns- any part of a troll could be picked apart here and fetishized it seemed, right down to the quadrant you wanted to watch it in. You let the cursor hover over Lowbloods for a moment, the picture of some doe-eyed brownblood not immediately pinging as alluring to you. But Iconic was a lowblood, and so was Orivar.

But you didn’t like them solely because of their hues. And part of you rankles at the idea of confirming Valtin’s ideas that you might in any way have a fetish towards the warmer castes, even if there’s no way he would ever know about what you were doing. But the idea alone was enough to drag your mouse away from it, scrolling down until you clicked on a category at last.

Seadwellers wasn’t as populated as many of the tags, though you aren’t surprised by that. Royalty often felt they had better things to do with their time once Ascended than give one another video ammunition to be used against them, but there were exceptions to every rule. You scrolled down the page a bit aimlessly, clicking to the next once the first had run its course and then the next. You didn’t know exactly what you were looking for, not exactly- you were just waiting for something to pop out at you.

Or someone, apparently. It’s a Temasek face in the preview of one video, the features just familiar enough to stop you from scrolling. But once you stop and take a second-look, the differences between this troll and your kismesis finally seep into your awareness- the troll on your screen’s nose protrudes more, perfectly straight like it’s never seen a fist to it in his life. His hair is buzzed short, far shorter than you could ever imagine Iconic’s, his horns swooping to the sides and behind him in jagged points.  
  
And then there’s the full flare of his fins, vibrant violet in an impressive spread around him. His face is splotched in bioluminescent spots, violet freckles across his nose and cheeks. He has a nose piercing, sure, but it’s a hoop through his septum that glitters with violet stones as if anyone might forget his chrome.

Not to mention the bulge he has on full display, coiled in a hand that’s too large to be his own. ‘Fish Fights Dirty, Gleamfin and Hookgrin Get Pitch’ reads out under it, and you hesitate as your cursor hovers over the words. You couldn’t just chicken out of this now, could you? You were already this far, you needed to learn more. So you click, and as the video starts to play you force yourself to let out the breath you’ve been holding.

It’s not that you’re completely unaware of pailing videos, really. You’d been eight sweeps old when you had been herded in to one of the media blocks in the academy with the rest of the recruits your age to watch the Imperial schoolfeeds on the subject, the same sort of thing that all young trolls were imperially mandated to watch. But those had been formal affairs, clinical in their approach to the changes that maturity brought to trolls and what would be expected of all of you when the time came for you to submit your pails to the drones. You’d been embarrassed then, sitting with all the other mortified wrigglers and hoping that above all else, you wouldn’t have a test on what you had just watched after it was done.

This was something else. The video starts as tame as you think such a video can, the first actor fighting with his co-star. It’s clearly staged of course, nowhere as brutal as a fight between two members of royalty can get. The focus isn’t on brutality, it’s on the two trolls as they touch, fingers digging into flesh as one gets pinned before they fight their way out.

The co-star is taller, all harsh angles only slightly softened by the natural blubber of their caste. Even their fins seem severe, a bristled pair reminiscent of a lionfish that pin and flare as they wrestle. Claws catch the first troll’s shirt and tear through it like tissue paper, leaving it in tatters and exposing a lean torso, all smooth unmarred skin. His gills flex under the camera’s lens, a gesture that can’t be taken as anything but arousal as they open far enough to show the violet filaments that his operculum hide.

“You’re getting soft, Gleamfin,” the second says, the words harsh and nasal with that seadweller cant. The first, Gleamfin now, just laughs back, sharp and high as a dolphin’s as Hookgrin pins him down against the wooden floor with a rumbling hiss, hands tight on his wrists.

This is nothing you’d ever think to do with Iconic. Physical competition, wrestling about like this? You both knew who would win such a match and it just wasn’t worth it when you knew Iconic’s mood would sour. You should just return to searching for something you could actually use, you reason, but-

“Can feel somethin that ain’t soft,” Gleamfin drawls out, words ending with a pop as he grinds his hips up in to Hookgrin’s. The camera focuses on that contact, on the harsh exhale of Hookgrin’s breath before they grind down, and you can feel your fins flutter. _Oh._

You forget about your ideas to scroll back, riveted now. “Going to do something about it?” Hookgrin asks, voice satin over steel as Gleamfin grins to show off teeth that aren’t nearly as sharp as you would have imagined. “I might,” he offers as a purr, as an offer, and the camera pulls back as Hookgrin pulls themself on to their feet.

They bend, the light catching on the gleam of a ringed hand as they grab one of Gleamfin’s horns. Down low, claws digging just so in to the velvety base that has Gleamfin hissing in a way that settles hot in your gut. Your mouth feels dry but you can’t stop watching as Hookgrin pulls Gleamfin up on his knees by it, brisk enough to be authoritative without any actual risk to the horn in their grip. Gleamfin doesn’t seem to mind it at all, judging by the way his fins flutter that has your own mimicking him.

“Let’s see it then,” Hookgrin tells him, and that’s all the instruction Gleamfin seems to need to undo Hookgrin’s pants, pulling them down far enough to show the first dark purple coil of their bulge before he reaches towards it.

The room suddenly feels so heated as you watch Gleamfin curl his hand around it, the camera angled high so that he could look up at it through his eyelashes as he stroked and coaxed their bulge out. Hookgrin still has his horn in their grip, using it as a handle as they pull him in, bulge reaching from his hand to his chin and leaving the slightest stain of violet on it. Hookgrin pulls him closer, demanding, and Gleamfin opens his mouth to-

_Oh_. Arousal burns higher, too much to ignore, and for a moment you’re mortified. What were you doing, watching this? Gleamfin’s lips sink further down Hookgrin’s bulge, slick with cheeks hollowed and Hookgrin doesn’t seem worried at all about having such a delicate part of themself at the mercy of that mouth full of teeth. Your tongue rolls against the back of your teeth, avoiding the points, and you find yourself trying to imagine doing such a thing.

Is that why Gleamfin’s teeth are blunted? You test your tongue against the tips of your bottom fangs, and… You suppose it’s possible for any mouth. You’d just need to watch your teeth, remember that they would be sharp against such delicate skin. Would anyone trust you with that, though? Could you imagine trusting Iconic’s mouth when his teeth have opened up your lips more often than not?

A moan breaks you from your thoughts, and when you bring yourself back to focus it’s to the sight of Gleamfin pulling back off their bulge, tongue swiping out at the material that clings to his lips as he stands. The both of them start to strip, Gleamfin pulling the tattered remains of his shirt off of him as Hookgrin pulls their own up and off. As they work on their pants Gleamfin moves forward again, and part of you is surprised when he leans up and catches Hookgrin in a kiss after where his mouth had just been.

But if Hookgrin is adverse to the taste of their own material they don’t show it. Their kiss is filthy, all tongues and teeth that nip at each other, catching the skin of each other’s lips without ever quite breaking it. The sound of it seems so loud in the silence of your block, both of them pulling apart only to clash again like they can’t stay away from each other. It’s heated and familiar to you, something you’ve done countless times before with your own kismesis that has you suddenly disappointed that he’s off into space again.

Gleamfin seems to have forgotten what he was doing, but Hookgrin hasn’t. They pull down his pants to let them pool around his ankles, and the camera is quick to focus on their hand as they reach down for his bulge. It’s pretty, for a bulge at least- bright violet, thick at the base where Hookgrin grabs it and thinning out until it flares into a spaded tip.

The preview hadn’t shown the gold at the tip of it, and you aren’t sure how you feel when you realize that it’s metal, that he’d gone and willingly let someone pierce him there. You knew trolls modified themselves in endless ways but seeing it yourself is another matter. It’s a momentary distraction, one you push aside when Hookgrin lets him go to move down past his bulge. Their claws are blunted too, and you realize why now as they slide two up into Gleamfin, who rewards the action with a gasping moan that does things to you. A lot of things.

You’re increasingly aware of just how invested you’ve become in something that was supposed to be research. It’s almost embarrassing, that you’re sitting here wet, with your bulge starting to become uncomfortably trapped in the limited space in your pants. Your arousal isn’t just going to go away with you still watching, but you definitely don’t want to stop.

So you don’t. It isn’t like you’re doing anything wrong, you reason as your hands reach for your pants. Plenty of trolls did this. Even Iconic did, you were sure- as dedicated as he was to display, of course he would want to watch porn.

Your teeth catch the edge of your lip, keeping it captive as you pull the edge of your shirt up. Your gills flutter again as you lean back, undoing the button of your pants and unzipping the fly. The idea of Iconic doing the same thing you are is on your mind as your hips lift up, enough that you’re able to pull your boxers and pants down in one go.

The relief alone is pleasure, your bulge curling up towards your stomach as soon as it has the freedom to. It’s just sparks on the kindling trying to ignite something more but you don’t touch it just yet, video forgotten as your mind forms together what you’ve seen of Iconic over your relationship. How far his usual flush might travel down his chest when he’s bare and wanting, and suddenly you’re frustrated that you don’t even know what his bulge even looks like.  


The sound of moans breaks that thought before it can form further, back to the video. The screen shows Hookgrin, rid of their own pants now, pulling Gleamfin in close enough for their bulges to twine together. Their hand is gripping his hip tight, the other skirting up his side dangerously close to his gills- skirting the line between the delicate skin surrounding them and being too much. But Gleamfin just presses himself in to the touch, eyelashes fanning low across his cheeks as Hookgrin’s hips rock.

It’s hot, watching these two strange fish pail. That’s what porn is supposed to be though, and you think you’re starting to accept your attraction the more it demands your attention. Your bulge has gotten bored with nothing to stimulate it, heading lower and- you don’t usually do that, self-pailing. So you reach down to pull it away before you get anything more than the feeling of it trying to slide between your folds, and oh. That alone is enough to send sparks of pleasure down your spine, and maybe it’s just been too long since you’ve done this.

Or maybe it’s just that your kismesis keeps doing things to wind you up without ever acting on them. Ever since you’d gotten so close only to have him abandon you, pailing has been plaguing your mind like it’s drone season. Having him kissing you, talking about past partners, touching you- even smacking your butt, it’s just all taken on an edge that has you here, bulge in hand as you watch two seadwellers rutting against each other on the screen.

You pull your lip from between your teeth before you can shred it, hand slow as it maps its way along your bulge. Your hand twists so you can run the pads of your fingertip along the sensitive raised ridge along its top, shivering at the feel-good loop it sends to your pan. The difference between the metal and flesh of your fingers is just another thrill for this, and your head goes back against your chair as you take a moment to enjoy the sensation.

Usually, you have more patience about this. But everything- the video, Iconic- has you wanting more than just the tease and the gradual buildup you usually crave. In front of you the video has been playing on without you, Hookgrin once more using Gleamfin’s horn to bend him down over a reclination platform. The camera angle changes to the best view of his nook, flushed and damp with his material, before Hookgrin’s bulge slides up and in to him in one fluid snap of their hips.

You make a quiet choked sound of your own, eyes closing as your fins pin. Your nook enjoyed what it saw, throbbing like it wanted the same sort of treatment- your hand on your bulge stills, long enough for you to kick your pants off completely in a gesture that’s clumsy enough that you’re glad once more that you’re alone.

But now you can spread your legs more, enough that when you slide the smooth, blunt fingers of your metal hand down your thigh, you can ghost them over the lips of your nook. Like this, with your eyes closed, it’s easy to pretend it’s someone else touching you. The AREMA had never had much in the way of sensors installed in it, and even though you know you’re the one directing your fingers the only feedback you’re getting is from the feeling of the blood-warm metal against your skin.

Your breath is coming out ragged now as you curl two fingers in to the material-slick heat of your nook, egged on by the sound of skin meeting and the moans of both seadwellers as the video continues. Your head falls back, bearing your throat and the winking purple of your neck gills as both hands work at you now. In the past, fantasizing was never easy for you- both of your experiences with actual pailing weren’t the sort of memories that you wanted to conjure up when you were looking for arousal.

Things are different now though, and it’s easy to imagine Iconic himself even if some details are vague. You can imagine his teeth biting open your lip, fever-hot, how warm he would be against you. He’s constantly noisy in everything else in his life, you can imagine him vocal here as well, how his lips or his mouth would feel like a brand-

A louder cry makes you open your eyes, and when you tip your head forward again you realize that the video is reaching its climax, in more ways than one. Hookgrin has Gleamfin up on his knees on the platform, the thrusts of their bulge shallow now but still strong enough to rock the troll they’re pailing. One of their hands is on his bulge, quick strokes that you find yourself mimicking as Gleamfin goes taut and moans again, one high long note as he spills his material across Hookgrin’s fist.

They don’t stop moving their hips through his orgasm, and even as he tips forward with his face buried in the sheets all they do is move their slurry-covered hand from his bulge to his hip, gripping with almost bruising force as they chase their own release. That’s what tips you over the edge, you think- watching another troll take what they wanted from another.

You close your eyes to ride out the waves of your orgasm, teeth clenched tight around whatever noise wants to escape as you try and keep enough of your mind to keep your hands moving. You don’t know if it’s because of how long you’ve been denying yourself or if it’s just because of the way you got here but it feels amazing, like fireworks going off in your body in a glow that has you lax n your chair by the end of it.

You’re filthy now, the chair is probably disgusting as well and you don’t know if you’ll ever be able to sit in it the same way again with what you just did. But the room is silent now save for the rasp of your breath, the video black and over with the same way that you were. It’s easy to just let yourself enjoy the afterglow for a bit, float in it until you couldn’t stand the state you were in any longer.

It didn’t take long. As soon as you pull your fingers out of your nook, you look down at the purple on your hands with a grimace. Your bulge has already retracted, sated for the moment, but the evidence of just what you had been doing was clear. But you keep a towel by your recuperacoon, to be used whenever you needed to rush out the door without a proper shower to clean off the sopor, and a flex of your psionics is enough to tug it out of the coonside table and allow you to mop yourself up in to some measure of an actual troll instead of a slurryspill.

It’s enough to quiet the fussiest part of you that’s still online after climax, even though you’ve now gone and made it so you would need a shower before you actually crawled in to your coon. You’ll be tired from the early day come dusk, but right now you can’t quite keep yourself from caring too much. Perhaps your research had gone off the rails on you, but you reason that you can always try again. And if there’s a flicker of heat at the thought, well… No one said that your research needed to be hands off, did it?

You flipped your husktop off with another wisp of your psionics as you stood, still loose-limbed and relaxed. But your tongue rolls against the back of your teeth again as you think back to the video, of lips wrapped tight around a bulge, and that flicker of heat flares a bit harder.

A good researcher doesn’t just base their findings on a single instance, you think as you head for the ablution block. It’s still early and still in the hive, and with the video forefront in your mind… Well.

It never hurts to be diligent in all ways.


End file.
